Lamb of God / Killswitch Engage / Testament / Huntress

Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
November 24, 2013

Review by InfamousButcher, Photos by SheWolf

Sometimes tour promoters do something very smart. They try to combine a few types of bands that might have crossover appeal with different audience demographics. You draw from a bigger audience and you might get some new fans for all of your bands on the bill. For example, you couldn’t pay me to go see Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, but throw one my favorite classic thrash bands like Testament on the bill and I am interested. Then, even more intelligent, throw in a band like Huntress that is fronted by hot chick Jill Janus in a bodysuit and thigh high boots! In addition, I’ve never seen Lamb or Killswitch and have been wondering if either band is deserving of their hype. Ok I’m sold now! Onto the Electric Factory we go!

The original Electric Factory was a classic venue in Philadelphia that opened in 1968 during the heyday of psychedelic rock like Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, Vanilla Fudge, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Doors, and many more. It was short lived, closing in 1973. The “new” Electric Factory opened in 1994 and is in a different location, in the Northern Liberties section of the city. The place holds 3,000 people when it is fucking packed to the gills, as it is tonight. Sound system is good and loud, most of the place is standing room except for the upstairs balcony / bar and a few seats at the downstairs bar. The place has a good vibe and is fine for a metal show, even though I prefer the Trocadero.

HUNTRESS

Huntress was up first and they came on 15 minutes early, which screwed some people out of seeing half of their 30 min set. Their high energy performance was enjoyable straight forward heavy metal with Jill Janus strutting her stuff on stage and belting out the screams. The band was solid and proficient, but the main highlight was Jill’s stage presence and vocals. Early on she wore a cape, after she shed that the skin tight body suit didn’t leave much to the imagination! Highlights of the set included new songs “Destroy Your Life” and “I Want to Fuck You to Death” which was co-written by none other than Lemmy Kilmister himself! Overall decent set, I won’t be running out to buy their new album STARBOUND BEAST, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them on a bill again.

Huntress Set List:

1. Senicide

2. Destroy Your Life

3. Spell Eater

4. I Want To Fuck You To Death

5. Zenith

6. Eight of Swords

TESTAMENT

Now it’s time for some Bay Area fucking thrash! Testament took command of the stage and just shredded us with their awesome 45 min set! The band was on fucking fire! Chuck Billy’s voice was in fine form throughout, high range screams, low guttural growls, mid-range thrashing, he was firing on all cylinders! Gene just obliterated us with his double bass drumming, leaving no doubts about who the best drummer in thrash metal is. Alex and Eric delivered amazing riffs, leads, and solos, their performance was flawless. Greg Christian was not performing with Testament tonight, but Jack Gibson from Exodus filled in just fine on bass. The set was like a killer mix of their best material plus a few newer songs off of 2012’s DARK ROOTS OF EARTH. The whole fucking set was the highlight of the night for me, but if I had to pick standouts I’ll go with “The Preacher”(LISTEN TO THESE WORDS I PREACH!), “The New Order” (THE TIME HAS COME TO RULE THE WORLD AT ANY COST!), “Disciples of the Watch” (SALVATION IS IN THE FIELDS!), and “Over The Wall” (HOLDING THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM!). Out-fucking-standing guys, thanks, I needed that!

Testament Set List:

1. Rise Up

2. More Than Meets the Eye

3. The Preacher

4. Native Blood

5. Into the Pit

6. The New Order

7. Disciples of the Watch

8. Over the Wall

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

Killswitch Engage was up next and the place went completely nuts. Metalcore is just not my style of music; I don’t get it and didn’t enjoy their set. They reminded me of Five Finger Death Punch, which is not a good thing.

Killswitch Engage Set List:

1. A Bid Farewell

2. The New Awakening

3. Fixation on the Darkness

4. Rose of Sharyn

5. Beyond the Flames

6. This Is Absolution

7. Always

8. In the Unblind

9. Life to Lifeless

10. Turning Point

11. My Last Serenade

12. In Due Time

13. My Curse

14. The End of Heartache

LAMB OF GOD

Lamb of God did not allow anyone in the photo pit; I assume because of the incident in Prague they don’t want anyone too close to the stage when they perform. Similar to Killswitch Engage, I did not dig what Lamb of God had to offer. I just don’t enjoy commercialized metal/metalcore.

Lamb of God Set List:

1. Desolation

2. Ghost Walking

3. Walk With Me in Hell

4. Hourglass

5. Set to Fail

6. Now You’ve Got Something to Die For

7. The Undertow

8. Omerta

9. Ruin

10. 11th Hour

Encore

11. Vigil

12. Laid to Rest

13. Redneck

14. Black Label

Overall, the show wasn’t in my wheelhouse. Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage aren’t going to find new fans among old school death / thrash metallers like me, but they don’t really need us as they are selling out venues. Hopefully some of the young kids there for Lamb and Killswitch got some much needed exposure to classic thrash.